FAA to keep 149 contract towers open

The FAA has spared 149 contract towers that were set to lose funding under the sequester — but the fix is good only through September.

FAA announced Friday that it is using newly granted transfer authority to keep the towers open beyond June 15, when the federal spigot of money was going to shut off. Congress granted the authority in last month’s bill that ended furloughs of air traffic controllers.

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The Department of Transportation confirmed the news Friday afternoon after three sources — one with an aviation group in Washington, one with a West Coast airport, and a Hill staffer — had broken the announcement for POLITICO.

The bill “will allow the FAA to transfer sufficient funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated for closure in June open for the remainder of fiscal year 2013,” DOT said in a statement set for wide release Friday afternoon.

The FAA was under strong pressure from top Hill lawmakers and the aviation industry to use its flexibility to keep the towers open, including from seven of the top eight aviation lawmakers in the House and Senate.

A number of aviation groups and lawmakers quickly praised the news, including Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who had fought for months to keep the towers open. Moran had tried to offer an amendment to prevent tower closures to the Senate budget resolution, but was blocked from a vote.

“It’s been a long fight since our original amendment to prevent the towers from closing and preserve aviation safety was blocked from a vote, but in the end common sense prevailed over politics,” Moran said in a statement. “This victory is thanks to a bipartisan coalition of Senators and Congressmen and women who came together to demonstrate that there are more responsible ways to cut spending than by compromising safety.”

Nearly all reactions to the news were positive, but the Airports Council International-North America remains concerned that the towers will be kept open at the expense of the Airport Improvement Program.

ACI-NA President Greg Principato called the announcement “welcome news” but said his group “remains deeply concerned about the unprecedented use of AIP funding for funding this important FAA operation.”

“Since these funds were paid by passengers to maintain and enhance airport runways and taxiways, we believe AIP funding should never be used to pay for FAA operations,” Principato said.